A CLEANING company is heading for a High Court showdown with Colchester Institute in a row over a £500,000 contract.

Indigo Services provides cleaning at the Sheepen Road college, but lawyers representing the company claim the tender process was flawed after it failed to secure a new three-year contract.

Lawyers are challenging the institute’s decision to award the contract, worth £505,000, to another company, Emprise.

The institute has strenuously denied the accusation.

According to a High Court writ, the company says although the contract was advertised, it was not in the standard forms needed, and failed to set out objective criteria as well as the precise details of the deadline.

Lawyers claim there was “a lack of transparency” in the scoring methodology, and although there were scores of 0, 1, 3, 4, and 5, there was no provision to award scores of 2.

For some questions, Indigo claims it received scores which equated to 2, although this score did not exist.

Romford-based Indigo, which seeks damages of more than £50,000, claims the institute could not provide any rational explanation as to why its tender bid could be improved.

Kati Vardon, the institute’s marketing manager, said: “As this matter involves court proceedings, we are unable to comment further at this time.”